There's plenty on the line in Tuesday's vote

In this election cycle, neither federal nor state seats are on the line - but so much more is.

Voters will be selecting their county representatives. They will be choosing judges. They will be deciding who will lead their towns, their highway departments and their clerical offices. And they will be asked to approve, or reject, six state constitutional amendments.

It's imperative people find a way to vote on Tuesday. Ironically, many of the local officials up for election make key decisions that arguably matter more than, or just as much as, what your federal or state representatives do. They oversee multimillion-dollar budgets that affect property taxes, and they have to make critically important land-use decisions that ultimately decide the look and feel of your hometown, where development goes and what should be left as natural beauty and environmental buffers.

These are the people closest to the ground, so to speak. This matters greatly.

As for the state constitutional amendments, the Journal weighed in with separate editorials on two of the measures - believing voters should give approval to the expansion of casino gambling in New York and give their blessing to raising the retirement age for judges. The other four measures are a bit less controversial but also are worthy of passage. One would entitle veterans to additional credits toward civil service job hirings and promotions. Another would extend the practice of allowing municipalities to continue not counting debt incurred for sewage construction against their debt limits. Two others would settle land deals in the constitutionally protected Adirondack Park.

If history is a judge, only about one-third of eligible voters will take the time to come to the polls or cast an absentee ballot during this so-called "off-year election," one held in an odd number year.

That is utterly disgraceful. Every vote does matter, as we have witnessed in some incredibly close races throughout the mid-Hudson Valley over the years.

People shouldn't apathetically give away their right to vote, not with so much on the line and not with all the blood, sweat and toil it has taken over the centuries to secure and maintain that cherished right. On Tuesday, the polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Those running for office have done their part. Now it's up to voters to do their part.

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There's plenty on the line in Tuesday's vote

In this election cycle, neither federal nor state seats are on the line ? but so much more is.